Take two! And I still own nothing.)
A little girl nestled safely in the covers of her bed, watching her doorway for her mother to enter. "Here," said her mother when she finally arrived, handing her a glass of water. "There's your water. Anything else you'll need before you sleep?"
"A story!" said the little girl excitedly. Her mother sighed, giving her a weary smile.
"It's very late, Jin. I think you should really go to sleep..."
"Just one! Pleeeeeeease???" The little girl gave her mother the most pitiful puppy face she could and her mother chuckled a little.
"All right, but then you'll have to sleep," she said and the girl eagerly scooted over so her mother could sit beside her. "What sort of story would you like?"
"With a princess!" she said with a grin.
"A princess... all right..." her mother thought for a moment. "Once upon a time there was a princess named Jin-" the little girl giggled a little and her mother smiled, putting an arm around her daughter. "-and she was a very happy, mischevious little princess. She lived with her father and mother and her brother. The little princess lived happily with her family, but her mother told her that she must never wander away from home alone, especially after dark. 'Great danger lays in the forest,' her mother warned her. 'If you stay home and obey us, like a good girl, you'll be safe from what waits in the woods.'"
The little girl continued to stare at her mother intently. "What happens to the princess?" she asked.
"Well, the princess, even though she was a good girl, was also a very curious girl. So one night, despite her mother's warnings... she decided to see what was in the forest... So she slipped out the window when no one was looking and wandered away. And sure enough, she got lost, just like her mother had said she would," said her mother softly. "She got so very lost, and was alone to fend for herself in a dark forest filled with danger. Her parents tried to find her, but couldn't and stood by their house, crying and crying for her."
"What happened to her?" asked Jin, holding her doll close to her.
Her mother leaned over and gently tucked a curl of hair behind her daughter's ear. "The only one who could save the princess was her prince..."
----
(A/N: I figured this made a better prologue anyway. For those of you who think I found a solution too quickly, please know the idea came to me at midnight while the last buzz of my 6th Mt. Dew was wearing off, and I've been working on it a lot today. Trust me, it was a looong night and tonight will no doubt go the same, but I knew I wouldn't rest until I fixed this mess. I'm going to go ahead and post chapter one as well which does contain new material since a lot of you have already read this part and I'd feel guilty leaving you with just this.)
